Divisional Events

Space as a Spectral Mosaic: Geometry and Quantum Gravity

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

A lecture byHal HaggardCandidate for the position in Physics

At the Planck scale (10^-33 cm), a quantum behavior of the geometry of space is expected. I will discuss new evidence for the idea that this can be achieved by directly quantizing space itself. In particular, we will consider the Bohr-Sommerfeld spectrum associated to the volume of a tetrahedron and compare it with the quantization of a grain of space found in loop gravity. One of the great challenges of the 21st century will be to understand how to empirically test for the quantization of space. I will conclude with some speculations about how to tackle this problem.